Clause 73
Equality Bill
11:45 am
Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey and Wood Green, Liberal Democrat)
The amendment is designed to probe the Government on the decision that they have made on the number of employees that an organisation must employ to be subject to the gender pay gap clause requirements when they arise. The Government refer to 250 employees in the private sector. I do not fully understand why that number has been selected. In our evidence session, reference was made to a reduced number. Women Like Us said that organisations with 100-plus employees often have dedicated human resource departments or facilities, so issues would not be too onerous as such departments should be able to contribute their experience of auditing. It was also said that the reference to 250 employees leaves out of the gender pay audit requirement a huge proportion of businesses in the United Kingdom. About half the people in the United Kingdom are employed in businesses with fewer than 250 members of staff, so huge sectors of the population would not be provided with protection under the Bill, when the regulations come into force. Given that 80 per cent. of the population are not employed in the public sector, will the Minister explain why the figure of 250 employees has been chosen?
I am saving some remarks to the end of the debate, but I now move to new clause 23. It would extend the period for publishing information to three years. That is a reasonable timetable. It would not be too onerous, nor would it be so irregular as to be out of date. Subsection (2) of the new clause deals with the information that must be published and would distinguish the differentials between male and female pay in an organisation. The information published under paragraph (c) would highlight discrimination in the types of work undertaken wholly or mainly by women so that we can see what is being done and by whom, how that work is valued, whether it is of equal value and whether the pay demonstrates an unjustified differential or a legitimate aim subject to the defence of a material factor.
In our evidence session, we heard from the Fawcett Society that, if we are to eradicate discrimination and unequal pay, we have to evaluate the skills and experience that are required for jobs and check whether individuals in equivalent jobs are being paid equivalent salaries. That is why new clause 23 proposes publishing both the levels and types of work. Women’s work is often undervalued and major cases have involved equal value in the public sector. That undervalue has delivered low pay for women for decades. It has not been adequate simply to have provisions that make that illegal, which is why pay audits are necessary they make sure that checks are in place so that people are not discriminated against.
It is only by seeing how people are treated compared with others at levels and types of work that we will ever be able to bring a case to a tribunal to right those wrongs. If we cannot find that out, the gagging clauses that we referred to earlier, while they are extremely welcome and helpful—for which I say, “Well done” to the Government—will not give the overall picture to enable an individual to make a judgment about a company’s relative pay or jobs.
The Conservative amendment of only imposing mandatory pay audits when there is a finding against a company will not work. It seems to be logical to punish when there is something judged to be punishable, but the reality is that such a policy will not address unequal pay because the individuals cannot get the evidence to bring the matter to a tribunal to get the judgment. As I understand it, the company would be required to publish mandatory pay audits thereafter. That will not address the issue in the first place. It will not provide the evidence.